Self-adjusting socket for lower limb prosthesis

A self-adjusting socket for a lower limb prosthesis, comprising:

• a housing comprising a residuum receptacle;
• a retention mechanism carried by the housing and configured for retaining a residuum within the residuum receptacle;
• at least one actuator carried by the housing and coupled to the retention mechanism through a respective mechanical linkage, the at least one actuator configured to reciprocally cycle between a rest position and an actuated position and to act through the respective mechanical linkage to incrementally further tighten the retention mechanism against the residuum on each movement of the at least one actuator into the actuated position and leave the retention mechanism further incrementally tightened upon each return of the actuator to the rest position;
• a releasable locking mechanism carried by the housing and configured to maintain tightness of the retention mechanism against the residuum after each cycle of the at least one actuator;
• the housing configured so that each step transmits motion to a respective resilient resistive element coupled to a respective one of the at least one actuator, wherein:
• when a tightness of the retention mechanism is below a threshold, each step transmits motion across the respective resistive element to the respective actuator to cycle the respective actuator to further tighten the retention mechanism;
• and
• when the tightness of the retention mechanism has reached the threshold, on each further step the respective resistive element yields to absorb the motion, so that the respective actuator fails to cycle on each further step, inhibiting further tightening of the retention mechanism beyond the threshold;
• wherein:
• the retention mechanism comprises at least one panel movably carried by the housing;
• the at least one panel being movable inwardly and outwardly relative to the residuum receptacle;
• and
• the at least one actuator is configured to act through the respective mechanical linkage to incrementally move the at least one panel inwardly to tighten the at least one panel against the residuum on each cycle of the at least one actuator.

A method for securing a residuum in a socket of a lower limb prosthesis, the method comprising:

• Providing the socket comprising:
• A housing comprising a residuum receptacle;
• A retention mechanism carried by the housing and configured for retaining the residuum within the residuum receptacle;
• at least one actuator carried by the housing and coupled to the retention mechanism through a respective mechanical linkage, the at least one actuator configured to reciprocally cycle between a rest position and an actuated position and to act through the respective mechanical linkage to incrementally further tighten the retention mechanism against the residuum on each movement of the late last one actuator into the actuated position and leave the retention mechanism further incrementally tightened upon each return of the actuator into a rest position;
• a releasable locking mechanism carried by the housing and configured to maintain tightness of the retention mechanism against the residuum after each cycle of the at least one actuator further comprising a manual tightening mechanism for tightening the retention mechanism;
• Performing the steps of:
• transmitting motion from steps taken with the lower limb prosthesis across a resilient resistive element to the actuator to cycle the actuator, wherein each cycle of the actuator incrementally tightens the retention mechanism against the residuum, until a tightness threshold of the retention mechanism is reached;
• and after the tightness threshold is reached, transmitting motion from further steps taken with the lower limb prosthesis into the resistive element wherein the resistive element yields and absorbs the motion so that the actuator fails to cycle on each further step, inhibiting further tightening of the retention mechanism beyond the threshold.

A method for tightening a panel in a receptacle for a residuum, the method comprising:

• Providing a self-adjusting socket comprising:
• A housing comprising the residuum receptacle;
• A retention mechanism carried by the housing and configured for retaining the residuum within the residuum receptacle;
• at least one actuator carried by the housing and coupled to the retention mechanism through a respective mechanical linkage, the at least one actuator configured to reciprocally cycle between a rest position and an actuated position and to act through the respective mechanical linkage to incrementally further tighten the retention mechanism against the residuum on each movement of the late last one actuator into the actuated position and leave the retention mechanism further incrementally tightened upon each return of the actuator into a rest position;
• a releasable locking mechanism carried by the housing and configured to maintain tightness of the retention mechanism against the residuum after each cycle of the at least one actuator further comprising a manual tightening mechanism for tightening the retention mechanism;
• the housing configured so that each step transmits motion to a respective resilient resistive element coupled to a respective one of the at least one actuator, wherein when a tightness of the retention mechanism is below a threshold, each step transmits motion across the respective resistive element to the respective actuator to cycle the respective actuator to further tighten the retention mechanism;
• and when the tightness of the retention mechanism has reached the threshold, on each further step the respective resistive element yields to absorb the motion, so that the respective actuator fails to cycle on each further step, inhibiting further tightening of the retention mechanism beyond the threshold;
• further comprising a manual tightening mechanism for tightening the retention mechanism;
• Performing the steps of:
• applying incremental tension across the panel to move the panel inwardly relative to the receptacle, wherein:
• the incremental tension is applied by transmission of movement of an end effector of a lower limb prosthesis toward the residuum through a mechanical interface to a tensioner;
• and the movement is transmitted to the tensioner only when a resistance of the mechanical interface exceeds a current tension applied by the tensioner.